Juvenile charged with shooting 14-year-old boy near South Chicago high school

A 16-year-old boy has been charged with shooting and critically wounding a 14-year-old boy Thursday evening near a South Chicago neighborhood high school.

The boy is charged with a felony count of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, Chicago Police announced Friday night. His name was withheld because he is a minor.

About 4:30 p.m., The 14-year-old was standing outside in the 2700 block of East 89th Street when someone walked up and opened fire, police said. The shooter then ran away.

Bessemer Park is located on that block, just across the street from Bowen High School and Baker College Prep.

The 14-year-old was taken in critical condition to Comer Children’s Hospital with gunshot wounds in his wrist and chest, Chicago Fire Department Cmdr. Walter Schroeder said.

A nearby resident said he was playing basketball at the park when he heard several shots — “bam, bam, bam,” and then ran for safety along with another group of teens.

At the end of the street, Ronald Mickle, a 15-year resident of the neighborhood, anxiously waited for his daughter, a 17-year-old Bowen student, to come back from a volleyball game. She missed the shooting.

“This is not surprising at all. This is every day here. This area is just horrible,” Mickle said.